


Love Me Less

by Cloudyerd11



Category: Love Me Less - MAX feat Quinn XCII (song), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Death, Distrust, Figurative Ghosts, Gen, Ghosts, Murder, Past Character Death, Past Violence, Red Ledgers, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, non-existant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 08:01:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27690023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cloudyerd11/pseuds/Cloudyerd11
Summary: There is no such thing as freedom, but for ghosts, that’s a different story. As a ghost, you can go anywhere, do anything, but most importantly - it doesn’t matter if you die, because you already do not exist.When the Avengers were in a losing fight against Hydra, the infamous ghost Shadow decides to save their lives, joining with them to help take down the manipulative organization. Mixed feelings are shared amongst the team - ranging from sheer curiosity from Stark to distrust from Romanov - but no one is more skeptical than Shadow herself. She doesn’t exist, she became a ghost to keep it that way, and joining with the Avengers is certainly making that specific harder.The Avengers are up for anything that helps them take down Hydra, but how do you work with someone who straight up doesn’t exist?
Kudos: 3





	1. 4 Years Less

Hard, cold rain fell from the soulless sky, each black drop an extension of the color above. It swallowed the air around them, drowning out all emotions associated with the daylight. Even the moon was absent from the sky, God himself deciding to cascade the darkness onto the earth.

The dark night only made the red and blue police lights shine brighter, reflecting through the spaces between the heavy drops. Each flash was blinding the Police Chief as he walked up the driveway. After twenty-eight years of this investigation business and he still couldn’t walk into a crime scene without a headache.

Every space of the two-story house was teaming with officers; photographers and evidence collectors among them. To no extent was there a crook on the first floor that hadn’t been checked, swiped for evidence, or taped off. The upstairs was just beginning to be opened, the Chief making it a few steps to the stairs before being stopped.

“Chief Josa. Thank you for coming on such short notice.”

The man sighed, turning towards the small Detective. In the light of the house, the Chief could see his own reflection in the stout man’s circular glasses.

“You made it sound urgent.”

“Indeed. Please come with me.”

Protestingly he followed the detective, internally grumbling to himself. He was becoming too old to look at the dead. The kitchen he was lead to had the exact appearance one would think of when they first hear of a triple-homicide; blood splatters everywhere, yellow cones marking evidence spots and shell casings, and three sheets painted blue covering the victims, each body no more than four feet apart from each other.

“A family ordeal,” the detective stated blatantly.

“Related?”

“By blood.”

“Shit.”

It took everything in his being to keep his nausea under control as he watched on detective lift up the closest blue-sheet. The face of the young man was only visible - contorted in agonizing pain - but the Chief could see the upper portions of his shirt stained by maroon.

He wasn’t more than eighteen years old.

“Any ideas on a series of events?”

“It looks like the father might have been the first target. Based on track patterns, the mom was the second but the son was injured first, most likely protecting her. The mom was killed third and the boy died shortly after.”

The Chief cursed once more, only internally this time. This poor family. What did they do to deserve this? Each one killed in similar ways. He could understand just the parents, the father more likely, but the teen too? Who in the world did they anger to result in such a horrific act?

“Detective!” A voice shouted out. The two men were immediately at the entrance to the kitchen, looking up at the officer breathing heavily at the top of the stairs. “You need to see this.”

The Chief shivered and swallowed hard as he ascended the stairs. What more? How much worse could this crime get? Was there another body? Another child maybe?  _ For the love of God don’t let there be an infant _ … 

The officer stood back, allowing the duo to enter the hall before them. There was a door at the end of the hall - wide open and inviting - the lights turned on. Purple curtains covered the windows, pale white walls contrasting them. There were few decorations, a few posters and pieces of artwork here and there, but mostly plain white absence. Above the bed that was pushed against the wall was a photo collage, pictures were taken both a while back and recently. The Cheif also made note of the string of LED lights that bordered the top of the room.

“It’s just a bedroom,” the detective stated. “A teenage girl’s bedroom.”

Chief Josa took in a deep breath. Three bodies. There were -  _ are _ \- three bodies downstairs. They had already passed two rooms on the way up here, one of which is undoubtedly the master bedroom. This room belonged to someone else, someone missing from this equation.

“This room has been recently lived in,” he commented, thinking out loud. “And by the look of those photos, not by the teenage boy downstairs.” Thunder rumbles ominously on the other side of the windows next to them. “Then…”

“Then what?” The detective asked, looking at Chief Josa.

The Chief turned to look back at the empty doorway, leading to the horrors beyond.

“Then where’s the daughter?”


	2. Less Than Answers

“Alright. I’ll be the one to admit it,” Tony spoke, pushing himself backward in attempts to dodge a blast from the Hydra agent next to him. “This one’s on me.”

“You think?” Barton shouted, his explosion arrow sending attackers away from him.

Tony Stark was mentally kicking himself. He had led the team in blind, not knowing what to expect on this late evening mission. They had received a distress call from a technology warehouse, claiming an organization with blacked-out agents were breaking in. The Avengers arrived at the back, only to find a trapped ambush in the warehouse’s backloading lot. Now they were fighting off Hydra agents left and right, things not looking up for them.

He didn’t have to be a genius to know he made an idiotic decision.

“Save it for later,” a certain Captain’s voice answered. “Focus on the mission.”

“It has to happen to all of us at some point right?” Natasha added in, using Tony’s own tactic of “sarcasm during a crisis” before him.

A sudden burst of energy encircled his neck, a rush of fresh air covering his face. It took him a second to realize that the helmet of his suit had deactivated. _Hydra had deactivated part of his suit_. What? Since when was that a thing?

An electric blast hit collided with him, catching the wondering hero off guard completely. He landed hard on his back, knocking the vision out of his eyes. A presence around his wrists forced Tony’s sight to recover, the new light opening up to the view of Iron Man looking straight down the barrel of a Hydra gun. He moved his arms to protect his face, but the agent was standing on his wrists, keeping them motionless.

_Fuck_ , Tony’s mind screamed, knowing the Agent wouldn’t back down from taking his shot. _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fu…_

A shot rang through this air - between the Hydra agents and Natasha’s bullets were flying through the air - but this one had a different ring to it. It echoed differently, standing out to Tony despite the chaos around him and the thumping of his heart in his ears as the Hydra goon’s finger wrapped tighter around the trigger.

Tony almost shouted as the Hydra agent lunged for him, finally regain control of his hands and throwing them over his face. A heavy weight landed on him, one that he could even feel through the metal chest plate. He took a deep breath, removing his hands and his eyes growing wide. There was the agent, dead on top of him, a trail of blood spilling from his masked head.

Everyone and everything stopped at once, looking around widely for where the shot had come from. Even the Hydra agents had stopped, knowing something was off.

Clearly Tony wasn’t the only one who heard it.

“What the hell?” Tony said, looking at Steve with wide eyes.

“Where did that come from?”

Steve put his hand to his ear com. “Barton was that you?”

“Definitely wasn’t me.”

“Nat?”

“Negative.”

“Then does anyone have eyes on the shooter?”

There wasn’t even a speck of time as another shot rang through the air, abruptly responding to the Captain’s question. Hell was almost breaking loose as one shot after another filled the air. Steve dove, landing in front of Nat, covering her with his shield ready. Tony - still on his spot on the ground - turned away and covered his head the best he could. Thor began to spin his hammer to deflect the bullets while Hulk simply yelled at the noise. And Barton took shelter from his spot on the roof, disappearing from view as he laid down below the roof’s lip.

The ringing from the shots still echoed across the warehouse parking lot long after the bullets came to a halt. Each Avenger looked up at the ending of the assault, each of them with heavy breaths and racing heartbeats.

Just when they thought the surprises were over, multiple noises echoed around them, only this time, it was the sound of the Hydra agents falling lifeless to the ground. Every single one of them fell, and you could practically see their ghosts leave their bodies with how shocking the sight was.

No one said a word, not really sure their bodies would allow them to otherwise.

“Is everyone alright?” Cap asked, speaking first to break the uncomfortable feel everyone held. He didn’t even need the coms with how his voice carried across the heavy silence of space.

“Not exactly the word I would use,” Tony answered, finally gaining the courage to stand up once more.

Alright. I’m going to be the first to ask.” Barton stood up from behind the roof panel. “What the fuck was that?”

“Language.”

“Nope. It’s worth the risk.”

“We have someone on our side?” Tony questioned, moving to be standing next to Steve.

“Apparently.”

“Great.” They could practically hear Barton’s eye roll from where they were standing. “Exactly what we need right now.”

Nat approached the leading duo, stopping to roll a Hydra agent over with her foot to get a better view.

“Whoever it is, they are extremely precise.”

“Seriously?” Tony spoke up. “You’re complimenting them right now?”

“Look around you,” Natasha replied, holding her arms out and motioning to the Hydra agents around them. “Seventeen shots were fired, and all seventeen agents are down for the count. Plus there’s not even so much as a scratch on you and me. So what exactly do you want me to say?”

“I don’t know. Maybe _who the hell decided to shoot at us without telling us who they are._ ”

“Well, maybe they didn’t have an option. And based on your situation, I would be thanking whoever it is rather than cursing them out.”

Steve sighed, holding his hand up to his ear. “Barton, do you have eyes on them?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Do you guys have any idea who it could be?” Nat asked.

“Maybe it was an angel of Valhalla, passing through and choosing to bless us,” Thor offered, walking up to them with Hulk in tow.

“I don’t think so, Point-Break.”

Nat crossed her arms. “You don’t think it was someone from SHIELD do you?”

“Possibly, but I highly doubt…”

“I see them!” A shout suddenly came through the coms. “I’m in pursuit.”

“Barton…”

“Heading east towards eleventh.”

“On my way,” Natasha answered, sprinting in the same direction.

“Negative. They just banked North on seventh.”

“Copy.”

“Barton, do not engage until you have some backup,” Steve said.

“Don’t worry Cap. I’ll let you guys have your fun.”

Barton leaped into the air, landing on the adjacent roof with ease. Whoever this person was, they knew what they were doing; jumping at just the right moment to get from one roof to another, knowing when to tuck and roll or flip to make it a few more feet. They even knew the exact moment they needed to slide under an air conditioning unit to keep their momentum all the way to the other side.

And so did Barton.

He didn’t worry about his bow or bothered using the spare gun he always had handy. He could catch this criminal right? Speaking as though they are a criminal. Why else would they be running? They wouldn’t be doing so if they didn’t have something to hide… 

A shot rang across the roof, followed by piercing pain.

“Shit!” Barton shouted. His legs gave out from under him, sending him to the hard rooftop surface. His hand instantly went to his calf, red blood already beginning to seep through his black tactical suit.

“Barton?”

“I’m hit.”

“Stay where you are,” Nat called to him. “T-minus one minute.”

Hawkeye’s gaze landed on the blacked-out figure a few feet away, and they honestly looked stunning. They were completely backlit by the street lights below and the downtown stars in the near distance, giving the appearance that they were shimmering. It stood perfectly on the edge of the roof, it’s shadow covering its face from him.

He could see how no one on the team had noticed them. They were completely dawned in not-completely-black tactical gear, perfect for blending into the shadows. Their suit was extremely efficient too, covered in pockets and hidden features, clearly allowing them to carry as much as possible. And if one didn’t look close enough, they would completely miss the handgun strapped to its thigh, the black-night knife on its opposite hip, or the black strip of leather keeping its rifle attached to it’s back.

A flash of light from the street illuminated it for a brief second, giving light to its hidden face. Only it didn’t have a face, merely a black mask with as few features as possible, including an inverted space for a nose and two black covers where its eyes were supposed to be. There was no mouth, no other forms of facial expressions, nor any signs of life.

It simply looked like it wasn’t alive.

The sound of footsteps behind him involuntarily turned his attention away, peering back in hopes of seeing Natasha as promised. When he returned to the figure, the rooftop was empty, nothing more than an empty space for leaves to pass across. They had moved so effortlessly, so quietly, such that even his SHIELD and Avengers training could detect. Whoever it was had simply vanished, gone into the night.

Like a ghost passing out of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! And HAPPY FREAKING NEW YEAR! I'm so happy it's 2021 in more ways than one. And because of that - and the feeling of getting to start over - here's one of the multiple different pieces of work I'm posting today! I'm doing a complete overhaul of work, finishing up old stories, posting much-needed chapters, and releasing a brand new story!
> 
> Feel free to leave comments, questions, or suggestions and I will happily answer them. Thank you to all you lovely people who are reading this story and smile! It's 2021 Baby!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Everyone! This is a brand new story of mine with new characters, new ideas, new plot twists; the whole she-bang. Please feel free to leave comments, questions, or suggestions and I will definitely get around to answering them! Thanks for reading and keep on smiling!
> 
> And for my American Friends: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!


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